Automatic tilting gate



(No Model.)

F KENNEDY. AUTOMATIC TILTING GATE.

No. 271,336. Patented Jan.30 1883. I

Inge/70745;"

UNITED STATES PATENT @FFICE.

FRANK KENNEDY, OF GRAND BLANO, MICHIGAN.

AUTOMATIC TILTING' GATE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 271,336, dated January 30,

Application filed August 29, 1882. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANK KENNEDY, a citi-' zen of the United States of America, residing at Grand Blanc, in the county of G-enesee and State of Michigan, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Automatic Tilting Gates; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being bad to the accompanying drawings, and to letters or figures of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

Hy invention relates to that class of gates known as tilting, which are, in the operation of opening and closing, turned up on end returned to a horizontal position; and my invention consists in certain features, hereinafter described, and specifically set forth in the claim.

Referring to the drawings, Figure 1 isa front view of a closed gate provided with my improved means for opening and closing the same, the view being partly a section on line or m, Fig. 2. Fig. 2 is an end view of the same.

Like letters refer to like parts in all the figures.

A represents a post-and-rail gate of usual construction, and B represents the latch-post, which is partially broken away to show a slot or pocket, 7), formed on its inner surface to receive and retain the gate when closed. Any other well-known means may be employed to secure the gate in a closed position. '1 he end of the gate rests on the'bottom of the pocket, as shown. The swingingendofthe gate moves in the course indicated by the dotted lines, while the fixed end is pivotally supported on a bolt, 0, located at the lower corner of the gate and passing through the end post and bottom rail thereof and through two guide posts, D, as clearly shown in Fig. 2. Two hearing-blocks, E, areinterposed between the guide-posts and the gate, and the bolt 0 passes through these also.

If desired, ordinary washers may be substituted for the blocks.

rm Outside of the guide-posts are on each side the gate two lever-posts, F, which are connected at their tops to the guide-posts by beamsf.

The lower ends of the posts may hemortised in a base, G, or set in the ground, as desired.

Levers H are pivoted to the posts F atf, and are provided at their inner ends with staples or eyes h, to each of which a link, I, is pit'otally attached, and the lower end of-said link is provided with an eye, through which and a rail of the gate is passed a bolt, J.

from the ground or a vehicle, and by means ofthe link I the free end of the gate is lifted to a position nearly over the pivot-bolt G, when by dexterously releasing the outer end of the lever themomentum given the gate while being lifted to this pointcarries it beyond it, when, if desired, by l i f ti ng on said outerend of the lever the gate may be forced back to an upright position, as shown by or the gate may be opened by a sudden jerk as the gate approaches a perpendicular position. To overcome the necessity ofa certain dexterity required on the part of aperson attempting to operate the gate at the instant the lever is depressed to its lowest point, when the pivotal connections 0, h, and J are in line, which dexterity consists in not impeding the momentum of the gate, various changes of detail may be employed. For example, the spring f will be compressed by the lever H when it arrives nearly at its highest point, and the resistance of said spring will tend to automatically change the direction of movement of that end of the lever, so that at the instant the momentum of the gate acts to carry it over, the spring acts as a check to any efl'eetual resistance to the operation of the gate in this regard, and hence an operator unacquainted with this peculiar feature in the operation will be enabled to successfully open the gate, while with out the aid of the spring a positive and accurate manipulation of the lever will produce the desired result.

In a further modification the bolt is simply dotted lines in Fig. 1;

loosely fitted in the rail, whereby sufficient I lost motion at that point is secured to cause a rest in the action of the lever and link at the vertical point, and by this means the necessity of more than ordinary skill to operate the gate is obviated.

It is apparent that the operation of closing the gate is identical with that of opening it, force being first applied to depress the lever to its lowest point and then releasing the lever from said force and applying subsequently and quickly force in the opposite direction, when the gate will fall to a closed position.

In case the gate is constructed of iron posts and rails, the lower ends of the links are secured lower down and farther from the pivot,

for the purpose of securing greater leverage FRANK KENNEDY.

signature in Witnesses JOHN J CARTON, G. H. RooKwooD. 

